


Gray Into Black

by Winged_Ginger_Ninja



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Gratsu - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-01
Updated: 2014-06-01
Packaged: 2018-02-03 01:38:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1726436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winged_Ginger_Ninja/pseuds/Winged_Ginger_Ninja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gray wakes up from a nightmare with the strange feeling like something isn't right. What's wrong with him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: Darkness

All around me, darkness. The air so still that it was almost as if it wasn’t there. I was hanging there, limbs outstretched. The darkness seemed to be robbing me of the air in my lungs, it my limbs were numb and unresponsive. Then out of the darkness I heard something, it was a deep and malevolent laugh. It sounded close, but how close wasn’t clear. Nor where it was coming from, it sounded as if it was coming from everywhere, yet nowhere at the same time. Then suddenly I saw something appear out of the darkness; it was a mouth. It was twisted into a grin. “Why do you hide me Grey? With me you could become the most powerful wizard in the world”  
“Who are you?” I yelled back.  
“What, don’t you recognize me?” it said back, “No matter, you’ll find out soon enough”  
The mouth returned to shadows. Then as if someone turned on a fan, I felt a wind blow into my face. And I began to have feeling return to my limbs, but then I began falling. Falling through the darkness. Eventually I saw a light; I was falling into it. 

I jolted up. I looked around, breathing heavily. I was in my house, in my bed. The morning light beaming through the windows. The sunlight was painful to but I had to get up. I stood up, and put on my clothes and left. I began walking towards the guild. The morning air was warm, there was still a cool breeze but I used to it. On my way, I was thinking about my dream, it was weird; normally my dream’s involved either fighting Natsu. As I turned a corner I saw Lucy at a dango shop. I decided to greet her,  
“Hey Lucy!”. She turned her head to face my direction; a look of surprise on her face.   
“Hey Grey… What are you doing here?” she was acting weird, like she was hiding something but I didn’t let it bother me.   
“I always go this way.” I said casually, trying to not show that I knew that she was hiding something.  
“Oh… Well I was just looking for some breakfast.”   
“You’re having dango for breakfast?” I asked raising an eyebrow.  
“Yeah, so?” she asked.  
“Nothing, but it won’t fill you up you know.” I said as we both began walking towards the guild.   
As we continued walking I noticed that she wouldn’t let me see the bag, or at least not long enough for me to see its contents. ‘Strange’ I thought, but I didn’t let it bother me. 

As we approached the guild I had the feeling that someone was watching me, although this wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence for me; not since Juvia arrived anyway. Then I entered the building and looked around. I was looking for Erza, I had to ask her about something but she wasn’t there so instead I walked towards the board. I had to choose something because I was running low on funds. I needed something short though, just enough for dinner. There didn’t seem to be anything that really suited what I needed. It all seemed to be really far away; more than a day’s travel. It kind of bummed me out, I was beginning to thing I was going to have to go hungry again. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around greeted by Natsu’s pink hair and his wide grin.   
“What is it Natsu?” I asked  
“Me, Lucy and Erza are going on this mission,” he stated as he held up a flier “do you want to join?” I was tempted to say no; I didn’t want anything that would take too long after all. But for some reason, I said “Yeah, sure”  
“Yeahh! Well, we’re leaving soon then. Meet you up at the doors when you’re ready.”   
“Nah it’s okay. I’ve not got anything to do before we leave anyway, let’s just go already.” I said. Natsu seemed really happy for some reason when I said that.  
“Wait a second, what about Wendy?” I asked  
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot to ask… Yo Wendy!” called Natsu across the hall to Wendy who was sitting at a table talking to Mira about something. She jumped.  
“Y-yeah?” she called over.  
“We’re about to head out on a mission, wanna join?” he asked  
“Ehhh~” she turned to Mira who gave a nod. ‘I wonder what they were talking about.’ I thought.   
“Yeah! One second!” She yelled as she scraped something off of the table and placed it inside of her bag. It looked heavy. She ran over to us. Natsu showed her the flyer. She nodded and we walked towards the entrance. Erza and Lucy were already waiting. 

Without a word we set off. I didn’t know how long this would take us. As we walked next to the canal on our way out of town, I still had a strange sensation that I was being watched, but it seemed a little more intense, however I couldn’t pin point it’s source; there was no-one around. So I just ignored it as if it was a figment on my imagination. I continued to walk with the others but I wasn’t able to shake the feeling. It was as if I was being followed but was being watched from all directions, even when I saw nothing.   
“Is everything okay Grey? You seem a bit out of it today.” Natsu asked looking concerned.   
“Yeah I’m fine, guess I’m just a bit hungry is all.” I said trying to wave it off as nothing. Natsu’s face of concern didn’t disappear as I thought it would, but instead he reached into his back and took out an apple.  
“Here.” He said as he passed it to me. His hands were to warm, almost like he was being warmed from the inside.  
“Thanks.” I said as I took the red apple out of his hands and took a bite out of it. I must have had something on my face as Natsu was still staring at me.  
“What do I have something on my face?” I asked trying to whip whatever it was off my face.  
“Huh?” asked Natsu as he shook his face, “Oh no. It’s nothing, I was just thinking about something.” He said as he turned around, although I could see his face being to turn red. 

We were walking through the forest when suddenly Erza heard something. She began walking faster but didn’t say anything. We were having trouble keeping up with her, Wendy worst of all. So even though she was twelve I lifted her onto my shoulders so that she wouldn’t fall too far behind. Carla flying behind us so that she could keep an eye of all of us. We kept running, it was strange of Erza to run from anything but I suppose she could have just of wanted to avoid an unnecessary fight. However it started to rain, so we speed up; looking for shelter for the night. It was turning to dusk anyway. As we were running we came across a cave, so we settled there. Gasping for air, I put Wendy down. I dropped to the ground. I suddenly felt as if I was on fire. It caused me immense pain every time I tried to take breath.   
“Grey!” I heard someone shout although I couldn’t make out who it was. My vision began to blur and soon I was once again engulfed in darkness. I could still hear the voices of my friends but I couldn’t distinguish them, they all seemed to blur into one. Soon even their voices began to fade. I was left in darkness again, almost completely cut off from the outside world; the only connection was the feeling I had in my skin; the cold hard floor of the cave.


	2. The Morning After

Once again, I was smothered by darkness, but I could feel the cold of the cave floor. On front of me I saw something. It wasn’t the mouth that I saw from before, although what I saw was just as terrifying. It was an eye, bloodshot.  It looked directly at me, or was it looking through me? I wasn’t sure, it seemed look around my face, as if searching for something and seeing things of interest. But how could it? My face was motionless, I couldn’t move a muscle. The eye seemed to change colour, not drastically, but it seemed to change it’s hue from a blood red, to a red-violet. It’s iris also seemed to move, like a whirlpool down into it’s pupil. After looking at me for a while, it got closer. Then it looked at me straight in my eye.

“Gray. Show me it!” it demanded.

“What?” I thought, but I heard It as if I was hearing someone else say it.

“Show me it!” I demanded again

“What is ‘it’?” I yelled in my head, again hearing it through my ears.

“You know what it is!” it yelled back.

“I really don’t.”  
“Lies, I can see it right here in your head.”

Suddenly I felt like I was on fire again, but not internally. I could feel flames. Suddenly the eye faded away as if it was retreating from the heat.

 

With the eye- or whatever that was – gone, I soon regained my sight. I saw the others crouched over me except Natsu. Then I realised that I felt something heavy on my chest, I raised my head to see what it was. For some reason I was expecting stones or something; it was a heavy as stones. But as soon as I saw pink, I realised that it was Natsu. Natsu, not realising that I was awake, said “I think his pulse is increasing.”, then put his head back on my chest. I coughed to get his attention. He turned his head and saw me looking at him. He then moved back and sat on the floor of the cave. I could tell that his face, although subtle, was turning red again. I didn’t know why, but I let out a laugh when I saw that.

“Gray, are you okay?” Erza asked, taking hold on my head and forcing me to look at her.

“Y-yeah.” I said, realising that I no longer felt my lungs on fire.

“What happened?” asked Wendy “I wasn’t able to help. You had gone ice cold.”

“I don’t know.” I told her simply

“Well whatever happened it’s a good thing that Natsu was here to raise your body temperature.” Said Carla. I looked down at my shirt it realised it had been slightly singed by something.  
“I can see that…” I said looking at Natsu with a slight look of annoyance on my face. “Couldn’t you at least take my shirt of first Natsu?” I asked rhetorically. Natsu turned to look at me. Again it was subtle, but I could tell that his face went slightly redder. ‘ _What’s up with him?’_ I thought. He seemed odd. In any case, I tried to stand up but soon noticed that my legs were weak. I had to use the wall of the cave to walk around.

 

We stayed the rest of the night in the cave. However Erza still thought we were being followed so both she and Natsu kept watch through the night but not before Natsu toasted some fish from a nearby river. The fish were delicious- even if they were slightly over cooked. The next morning we all got up at roughly the same time, except for Erza, who was missing. I jumped to my feet. ‘ _The wonder a night of rest can do you._ ’ I thought with a smirk on my face. I walked towards Natsu who was standing at the entrance to the cave.

“Finally you’re up.” Said Natsu jokingly, with a grin on his face as always.

“Any signs of Erza?” I asked Natsu

“Nah, but not to worry it’s Erza after all.” He said.

Although out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of crimson red. I turned my head and searched the trees with my eyes. Then suddenly another flash of red. Without a second thought I ran towards the place where I saw the red. Natsu slightly confused ran behind me.

“What is it Gray?” but I was too focused to talk. I ran ahead of Natsu at quite a pace. Then suddenly I began to see foot prints in the soil. I followed them. Surly they would lead me to Erza. It took a while, but eventually the tracks lead me to the river that Natsu has gotten the fish from the previous night. Just coming out of the darkness of the forest, direct sunlight meant it took a while for my eyes to adjust.

 

Once my eyes had adjusted, I saw Erza in her armour. She was standing in the river. The water coming up to her shins. She was looking into the trees on the opposite river bank from me and Natsu.

“Yo! Erza” Natsu called. She slowly turned around. Both me and Natsu ran towards her. However as we got closer we both noticed a large cut on Erza’s left check. The blood that was dripping it’s way out of the cut was as red as her hair. ‘ _It just must have been a thorned plant or something._ ’ I tried to explain to myself.

“Are you okay Erza?” asked Natsu from the edge of the river. Erza hadn’t seemed to realise that it was Natsu for a second. She had that look on her face that someone was going to get it, but after a second or two she began smiling. Then she ran at us. Then using her arms as hooks, carried us away from the river. She seemed to be out of breath. She ran back to the cave, the whole way, with me and Natsu in tow. The armour dug into my skin and so I was in pain almost the entire way. When we got back to the cave she put us down.

 

“What the hell Erza?!” yelled Natsu

“Oi shut it flame-brain! I’m sure she had a reason.” I yelled at Natsu. He turned his head, but for some reason he looked more hurt than usual by my words… Well normally we wasn’t hurt by my words, he just normally got really mad. I thought it was strange but it’s Natsu, he’s a weird guy. I looked at Erza hoping for an explanation. However we didn’t receive any. Then out of nowhere Erza started packing everything away. Both me and Natsu still both seemed to be in shock; we simply couldn’t think of anything that would explain Erza’s behaviour but we just helped pack. Soon we finished. We left the cave and walked towards the nearest path that would lead us then to our destination that is it was the only town nearby that would lead us to our real destination. However I still wasn’t sure that Erza was calm; she was still walking quickly but not so quickly that we found it difficult to keep up this time but she still was weary of her surroundings and she would constantly look around us then occasionally doing a three-sixty turn in order to look behind us. After what seemed like forever, we reached the top a hill and then as we looked down the other side we saw a town situated at the very bottom of a valley. Out of both sides of the town we saw train tracks that continued along the valley floor in either direction. In the middle of the town we saw a huge building. We continued walking down the path and soon we met the gates of the town.  


	3. Erza's Strange Behaviour

As we entered the town, it was clear that Erza was finally beginning to calm down. Maybe she thought that we would lose whoever or whatever was following us in the busy town. We continued on for a bit, Natsu was walking ahead of us; looking left and right. ‘Maybe he’s looking for some food?’ I thought. I let out a small laugh: it was just like Natsu to think with his stomach. I felt my stomach rumble. Clearly my stomach was thinking along the same lines. Sometime after, Natsu looked around a corner and almost like he’d seen something amazing, he ran around the corner. I ran to see what Natsu had saw. As I had expected it was a café with a board out front. On the board was a tasty looking steak. Obviously Natsu had found what he was looking for. I walked toward the café. Natsu was already sat at one of the tables outside. He and Happy had already order a plate full of the steak- at least ten cuts, plus an additional ten fish for Happy. I sat down at the table. Natsu was glaring at me as if I was about to steal his food. I then teasingly reached for one. He quickly slapped my hand away. From the look in his eyes as he did so I could tell, they were his and his alone. I didn’t mind though, for some reason I enjoyed watching Natsu eat. Although it wasn’t long before he was finished. He had sauce on his face. I was about to say something when Lucy came over and wiped it off his face for him. He seemed to struggle though, as if she were doing it out of malicious intent or something. But either way his tried to get rid of it himself by wiping his face with his arm. After whipping his face, Lucy sat down next to him, soon followed by Erza who sat opposite Lucy.

“Would you like to order?” asked a waiter.

“Can I just have tea.” Stated Erza

“Yeah, same here” Lucy said immediately after.

“Some water?” I asked

“Okay, what about food?” the waiter asked

“I think we’re okay.” Erza said before I had the chance to ask.

The waiter left. Natsu just sat there, both his and Happy’s stomach looked close to exploding. Although Natsu didn’t miss this opportunity to ask Erza what that was about that morning. The four of us (me, Lucy, Natsu and Wendy – who was sat at the tables behind us with Carla) fell silent. The four of us staring almost intently at Erza who was calm. Appearing to be ignoring the four of us.

 

She cleared her voice. The four of us edged in closer. She looked at the four of us. The four of us simultaneously took a gulp.

“How does it concern you?” she asked calmly. Although with a slight inflection that indicated annoyance in her voice.

“What do you…?” Natsu said before I placed my hand over his mouth. Even I was slightly confused as to why Erza refused to share. If it was going to affect our mission of course it concerned us. And as it had already (we were supposed to arrive there the previous day) we felt like we needed to know. However the look on Erza’s eyes proved that she would not share unless she absolutely had to. So we dropped it. Soon the waiter returned with our drinks. My drink was slightly too warm so I used my magic to place ice cubes in the water to cool it further.  I took a sip, it was tasty. Soon however I got distracted with thoughts of my nightmares that I had recently. I just stared at the dancing lights that resulted from the water refracting the sunlight. It must have been obvious I had something on my mind as it wasn’t long before Lucy asked me “What’s up?”

I looked at her and replied with a simple “Nothing”, I could tell by the look on her face that she didn’t believe me one bit. However she decided not to push it and instead went to talk with Wendy. I fell again into my thoughts of the previous nightmares. Something was bothering me about them, although what exactly I couldn’t pin-point. It wasn’t like they were real or anything. Surely they were just like any other nightmare? In any case, I wasn’t allowed to think about it for long as I was tapped on the shoulder by Natsu who had a slight smile on his face. “Common, we’re leaving.” He said and I stood up and began following Erza.

 

After what seemed like a good hour or two, we finally arrived at our inn. It was a small building, the sign above the door showed a silhouette of a seagull, its wings outstretched.  The sign read “Wing Inn”. As we entered I noticed that the inside seemed really dusty, almost like nobody has cleaned in there for months if not years. There was an old man at the desk, his eyes covered by his hair which fell over them. He turned his head to look at us as the bell signalled our entry. Erza went up to the desk and got our keys. However she had four keys but there was only two doors in this inn-three including the entrance. The old man emerged from behind his cluttered desk. He walked over to a door that seemed like it could be easily broken down. He took out a key from his cloak that covered his entire body. He unlocked the door and opened it. It revealed a stair case which lead down into a hall that was spotless. It seemed out of place compared to the dust covered room upstairs. Down there was similar to what Lucy’s original home had looked like, with paintings along the halls and bright chandeliers that hung from the white ceiling. We walked down the corridor until we came to our rooms. Our rooms were close to each other. Lucy and Wendy (and that meant Carla too) would be sharing a room and me, Erza and Natsu had our own rooms each.

 

As I entered my room and sat on my blue covered bed. I began looking around the room. From the bed, to the drawers to the other doors which lead to a balcony and then just looking right up to the ceiling… ‘Wait aren’t we underground?! Why do I have a balcony’ I thought as I stared at it. I stood up from my bed and opened the doors. I looked out to see the most amazing sight. It was a cave with a hot spring in it. The walls were covered with huge blue gems that were reflected in the water. I ran out of my room and ran down the corridor, closely followed by the others who came out as soon as they heard my foot steps outside their doors. As I ran further down the corridor, I noticed we were going lower and lower until finally the corridor opened into the cavern that I saw from my room. I striped of all except my shorts which I kept on. Then I walked into the hot spring. It was amazing! I could feel it relaxing all of my muscles. I was joined by the others after not too long, except Happy, Clara and Wendy who looked at the gems that seemed as blue as Wendy’s hair. I turned to look at Erza, but something struck me.

“Erza, your cut it’s gone!” I shouted across the hot spring. She raised a hand to her face to check if I was telling the truth. I was, it had completely disappeared. Out of nowhere Lucy jumped and I looked behind me. It was the old man who gave us our keys, but his long hair didn’t cover his face, in fact he didn’t look old at all. He looked like was in his mid-twenties. If it hadn’t been for the clothes I would have assumed he was a completely different person, with his now golden hair flowing behind him with his brilliant blue eyes looking at us. It kind of creped me out just how long he stared at us. But I suppose nothing can really surprise you more than an old man looking like he was in the prime of his life.


	4. The Knock At the Door

The old man stood at the side of the hot spring. His once matted grey hair was now like flowing gold; the blue light from the gems were reflecting off his hair. His eyes gleamed a spectacular blue, as deep as sapphires. The four of us- me, Natsu, Erza and Lucy- just stared at the man. There was no mistaking it; this was the same man we saw at the desk, but he looked different. Eventually, after just looking at us, he began to grin and laugh. He chuckled to the point where his eyes began to water.

‘What’s so funny?’ I thought.

Obviously, the look on my face gave my thoughts away because soon after he looked at me, clearly trying to suppress his laughter and said “Sorry, 'tis thy countenance. Truly, thou are so comical.”

“Thou art?” questioned Erza.

“Yeah…oh… I meant ‘you are’,” he corrected “I guess I’ve just been reading too many books, huh?”  We weren’t going to be fooled that easily. We all clearly thought it wise not to question openly, in case he was dangerous. Instead, we all returned to relaxing – or as much as we could with that guy there. He just watched us, almost like he was waiting for something to happen. Thankfully, Wendy came over from her wander around the cavern.

“H-hello?” she said, clearly nervously. Carla flew around the front of the man, wanting a better look at his face.

“Huh, it’s not every day you see an Exceed, is it?” he said with a subtle grin on his face, placing a hand on Carla’s head.

We all had a look of shock on our faces as he said. How did he know what an Exceed was? This man was not your average inn keeper. 

“Who are you? How do you know what I am?” asked Carla, clearly as taken aback as the rest of us. However, he just looked at her, almost as if it wasn’t the first time he had been asked that question. He muttered something under his breath and then stated, “I’ve seen and heard many things during my life.” 

I felt something strange when he said that, it sounded almost like an old man missing his younger days. I heard an air of nostalgia in his smooth voice. After a while, we all had left the hot spring since we couldn’t relax while that man was just standing there. So we all headed back to our rooms (thankfully it was mandatory to wear a towel in the hot spring; although it was unusual, I didn’t feel comfortable with that man around). As I walked to my room, I noticed that the man’s eyes followed me. It made me feel uncomfortable. It felt like they were scanning me. The feeling made my hair stand on end and sent a chill down my exposed back. I don’t know why; I was used to people looking at me, especially when I was top-less as I often was. For now, I just ignored it.

 

When I entered my room I dried myself then quickly changed back into my normal clothes. I still couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching me. I looked around the room as I buttoned up the top button on my shirt. It wasn’t the eyes of the man from before. Once again, it felt like it came from everywhere, like my very surroundings –although still and silent- were watching me. I looked around for the source of this strange yet familiar feeling. The flow of time seemed to pass so slowly that it felt like an eternity between each heartbeat before a pounding at the door awoke me from the trance-like state. I walked up to the door slowly, cautious if the strange man was at the other side. It was Natsu. He stood half-dressed, his chest bare, missing his usual vest. He looked straight at me. His chest was still shiny; he must have not dried himself properly, which I found odd considering he normally dried the quickest. His abs reflected the light from the wall mounted lamps. His hair was dripping, and his face seemed to glow red again although I couldn’t understand why.

‘ _That’s kinda cute_ ,’ I thought before I could stop myself. ‘ _Wait, what_?!’ I tried to convince myself it was just a slip of the tongue – although it was inside my head. 

“Yeah, Natsu, what do you want?” I asked the wet wizard. Natsu just looked at me for a second, I could feel my face becoming warm.

“Oh!” Natsu gasped realising he had just been looking at me for the past minute or so. “Eh… Can’t remember,” he said with an obviously fake grin on his face.

He turned to leave, but I couldn’t stop myself. I grabbed his hand before I knew what was happening and pulled him in, closing the door with my free hand. I pulled Natsu with such force that he was now left standing in the middle of the room. His abs and pecs now became more noticeable. We both now looked perplexed by my uncontrollable actions.

“G-Gray,” whispered Natsu. His usually confident posture was now that of a shy child.

‘ _Even cuter’,_ I thought again. ‘ _Wait… what? Natsu can’t be cute. He’s a guy, not a girl… I can’t be..._ ’ I couldn’t even think the word.

 

As Natsu’s face becoming even redder, took hold of my hand, and pulled me closer. His eyes stared down at the floor, avoiding my eyes. I couldn’t keep track of what was happening.

 

Before I knew it, Natsu had his arms around my neck and his lips slid onto mine. They felt soft and slightly wet but I guessed that was just because of the water he had been trying to relax in only moments ago. The scent of his wet hair entered my nose. It sent a pulse of electricity down my body. It was like everything about Natsu was a magnet to me. I slowly opened my eyes, gazing at Natsu. I saw him become redder and redder. I couldn’t help but place my arms around Natsu’s waist. Then Natsu pulled tighter. His warm, bare chest burned like a furnace against my body, causing my heart rate to accelerate. I couldn’t help it; until this point, he’d been the only one kissing. Now I was kissing back.

It felt… amazing. Admittedly it was my first kiss, so I didn’t know how it normally felt, but this just felt so… so right! Almost like my entire life had been empty until how, and Natsu filled that gaping chasm of loneliness. The kiss went on, minutes, it felt like hours; I wanted it to last forever. However, it didn’t end like I expected it to.

 

I fell unconscious.

 

Instant darkness. I felt like I was hanging from strings tied around my wrists and ankles. Looking down, I saw my reflection in ripple-like waves and assumed I was suspended over water.

“That was fun,” said the disembodied voice I had been dreading to hear.

“What was?” I asked, hoping it didn’t notice his obvious attempt at hiding what just transpired.

“What else? That kiss,” said the voice. Then on in front of my face, my reflection rippled into Natsu, but this version of him was dress in his vest.

“What kiss?” I asked. Playing dumb was never my strong suit.

The voice then sounded as if it was coming from the reflection of Natsu. “Don’t play dumb. I may only be in your head, but that’s how I know exactly what you’re feeling and doing.”

This took a while for me to process. I tried to keep my thoughts to myself.

‘ _Shit!’_ I thought and stated at the same time.

“Oh, don’t be so surprised!” it said as Natsu raised his hand out of the water and placed it on my chest. Then suddenly there was a flash of light, like a fountain was erupting from my chest. Its light was so bright I couldn’t see Natsu.

“It’s not enough,” it said.

I suddenly felt the air rush past my face as the strings that kept me up snapped. I fell into the water bellow and instantly woke up.

 

I jolted up and saw Natsu at the foot of my bed. He sat on a stool, his face lying on my bed, soundly asleep. I turned my head to look at the clock; it was almost mid-night… assuming it was the same day. I lay my hand on Natsu’s (now dry) pink hair. It was kind of soft. I just sat there, tracing over every detail of Natsu with my eyes, hoping to keep the image in my brain. After a while, I shook Natsu awake.

“Y-yeah?” Natsu yawned and he sat up. When he realised it was me his began to blush again. Looking into Natsu’s brown eyes, a thought occurred to me.

“Natsu… how…” I managed to slur out, but Natsu appeared to understand what I was trying to ask.

“You fainted… I didn’t realise I was so good as to make an ice princess like you faint,” joked Natsu, a half-hearted grin on his face. “So how are you?”

“I- I don’t know… I mean…” trying to string my words together “, I feel fine… but… Nah I’m fine.” I finished, deciding not to worry Natsu. Remembering the time I asked “How long have you been here?”

“For as long as you’ve been out.” He replied simply I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks, it appears it was now my turn to blush.

“Did you also…?” I asked- indicating the bed with my hands. Natsu’s face seemed to begin to glow with a red light. Was he embarrassed?

“Yes… I carried you. I wasn’t just going to let you lie there on the floor,” said Natsu, trying to justify his actions. I wanted to talk to him more but when he noticed the time, he quickly bid me “goodnight” and left. I felt so confused.

‘ _It was just this one time… It won’t happen again. I mean I can’t be… gay… can I?_ ’ was all I thought as my head hit the pillow, returning blissfully to sleep.

 


	5. Slap

The following morning I woke up to more sounds of more knocking at the door. I opened my eyes slowly. My vision was blurry with sleep. I noticed that the lamps were dimmed and instead (although we were underground) there was a light coming from the window. Straining to sit up, I let out a deep yawn. The pounding at the door continued.

“Yeah, yeah! Wait a minute” I yelled back. Getting to my feet with the ache that I always had first thing in the morning. I opened the door to be greeted by Erza and Lucy. Erza barged in to the room. Lucy seemed looked shocked at this; clearly she had not been expecting that from Erza, but I gave her a nod to let her know that she could come in. I closed the door behind her then turned to face Erza whom had closed the curtains that blocked the light from the outside. Instantly the wall lamps had brightened. After a while of silence, Lucy finally spoke.

“So how have you been Gray? Natsu said you passed out last night?” she asked in a quiet voice like she was nervous. Lucy was acting odd; she didn’t make eye contact.

“Yeah. I’m alright” I stated, “Where is Natsu anyway?”

“He’s gone out with Wendy, Carla and Happy to buy us some more food.” explained Erza, wandering around the room, looking at everything.

“What are you doing Erza?” I inquired.

“Never mind that just now, just wait a moment.” 

After a moment or two she looked satisfied with whatever she was looking for, and sat on the chair that was next to the desk.

“Sorry. I had to make sure no one was listening in to our conversation… ”, explained Erza.

“Is this about that weird man from yesterday?” I inquired. Erza simply nodded.

“You noticed it too, huh? Well, me and Lucy were talking and we both agree that it be best that we don’t stay here too long.” Erza began, “We both agree that we should leave after lunch”. Lucy nodded.

“Okay, I agree that the guy is weird, but if he was going harm us, wouldn’t he have tried it already?” I suggested. The instant I finished saying that, I heard another knock at the door. Both Erza and Lucy looked cautious as I went to open the door.

It was the man.

He did not speak, instead he simply indicated for the three of us to follow him. We followed, prepared to defend ourselves if necessary.

 

He led us back up to the reception and through another door which opened to a staircase. It went up to what appeared to be an office. We were shocked to find that the others were already there.

‘ _Shit! Has he got to them already?!_ ’ I yelled in my head.

“Please sit” he said as he walked behind a desk. Behind which was a window that looked out to the mountains.  We did as we were asked. There was no knowing what this man was up to. I sat down opposite of Natsu on the other side of the sofa whom was leaning against one of the arms and looking bored with his head on his hand. He sat down on his old wooden chair behind his desk. Although I wasn’t next to Natsu, I could tell that he was getting impatient as he was breathing deeply.

“So what is this about?!” demanded Natsu

“One moment.” said the man, who turned his head to face an old clock that hung on the wall behind up. As soon as the clock struck nine, a magic circle opened on the floor. The old man was in the centre.

The magic circle emitted a blinding yellow light. The man seemed to be aging rapidly; the colour seemed to be draining from his hair and his blue eyes seemed to dull. Almost as soon as it appeared the magic circle disappeared. What was left was the old man that we saw when we arrived at the inn.

The shock left me speechless as well as the others (judging by the look on their faces; eyes wide and mouths open).   The now-old man chuckled like he heard an amusing joke.

“Close you mouths. You catch flies if they’re open any longer.” he joked, “You must all me surprised huh?”

Both Wendy and Happy (who was sitting on Natsu’s lap) nodded.

The old man chuckled.

“I’ll explain later, but first I must give you further details on your job…”

“Wait, you’re the client?” Lucy interrupted

“Yes. My name is Akimura. I’m your client. That is if you are indeed fairy-tale wizards as I guessed you are by the emblems you carry”, he motioned towards the emblem on Natsu’s shoulder.

“What is the job that you have for us?” asked Erza.

‘ _Wait… what? Did they not read the flier? ... Wait I haven’t seen it._ ’

“Natsu can I see the filer for a second?” Natsu passed it to me, but avoiding eye-contact as Lucy had done earlier.

 

HELP WANTED

 

For more details, come to Kagenaka.

Meet me at Wing Inn.

 

1,000,000Jewls

 

That was all it said.

“Why would Fairy Tail allow this job to be posted on the board?” I demanded. Had this guy done something?

“… I’m an old acquaintance of Makarov.” Akimura said. Those words had a calming effect on all of us and it was obvious.

“Well let’s get down to business, shall we?” suggested Erza.

“Yes I agree. Well where to start?”

“How about what the hell that light was all about?”

“Oh yeah” Akimura said, whom had clearly forgotten about that sceptical. “Well as you not doubt noticed, that magic circle aged me? Well actually that was actually returning me to my real age. You see the hot spring downstairs, is actually the fountain of youth. I’ve been doing research on it since I was a young man. It appears that the water itself is not actually what gives youth but, it is the means by which the magic travels. Or to be more exact it travels in the mist and steam in the air. The magic comes from the gems that you no doubt noticed that are embedded in the walls of the cavern.  It appears that…”

“What has this got to do with our mission?!” interrupted Natsu. I shot a look of anger at Natsu. He instantly sat back down in his seat and looked red.

“… One second, I was just getting to that.” The old man chuckled. “Although it almost have everything to do with your mission. It appears that the gems are not only the source of the youth giving magic, but they also appear to hold much more powerful magic.” We all were interested in this, we were listening to his every word. “However that also means that it also has the capacity to cause great harm, among the other things.”

“Is this what healed Erza’s scratch?” Natsu asked.

“Natsu…” I shouted. Again he instantly looked regretful.

‘ _What’s wrong with him? He’s normally so argumentative._ ’

“Yes, it was. As I was saying…”Akimura continued, with a hint of annoyance in his voice, “Recently I’ve noticed that there have been a shady lot in the area. I’m worried that someone might have found about the capabilities of the gems.”

“Dark wizards?” asked Lucy

“I suspect so. Normally I wouldn’t worry but recently I’ve noticed that there are chunks of time missing in my memory and it all started when those people started showing up. Your job is not to protect the gems. It is to take a chunk of one of the gems and to take it to my colleague in the sea-side town of Umiyama. Her name is Fuyuki. You will find her at this address.” He concluded, handing Erza a slip of paper.

 

Due to the circumstances we had agreed that two _people_ should stay at the inn at any one time in the event that the enemy should choose to attack. Erza decided that me, Natsu and Lucy should go out and get lunch for everyone.

 

We walked down the main street. It was lined with cafes and other food shops. We walked along until we found a bakery, it was small but the smell that emanated from the place was making us hungry. As we opened the door we were greeted instant heat. We could feel the heat from the ovens from a good few meters away. The inside looked even smaller. The counter was lined with freshly baked and cookies and other food that looked really good. They were all covered in some kind of flavouring or another. We could see the oven in the back too, and the person who was keeping it alight. He was using fire magic too. However his was a lighter red than Natsu’s.

 

Lucy looked around. Judging the goods that lay on show. Natsu was entranced by the fire. He was also drooling a bit. The fire must have looked tasty or something.

“Hmm… I don’t really think this food looks any good. Why don’t we try somewhere else, Gray?” Lucy asked.

“What about Natsu?” I questioned. Natsu was still staring longingly at the flames through in the back.

“Can I help you kids with anything?” asked an old man who had just appeared from the back. Clothes covered in soot.

“No, we were just leaving.” replied Lucy.

‘ _What’s up with her? This food looks really good._ ’

“Actually I would like some of those.” I said pointing to a pile of bread (that was made of five loafs and) that had something sprinkled on the top of the crust. Before I knew it Lucy had left, slamming the door behind her. There was a moment of silence.

Finally the man said “Excellent! That will be 10 jewels.” I handed the old man the money and took the bread.

“Come on Natsu. We’re leaving.” I said to him as I opened the door, he followed behind me.

 

Once again outside, I looked around for Lucy, but I couldn’t see her. So we began walking around, looking from shop to shop, looking for her. However she was proving difficult to track down.

‘ _What was up with her?_ ’ I thought to myself.

I was clearly lost in thought as I suddenly I realised I was being dragged into an ally. It was Natsu, he looked like he was angry about something.

He pushed me against a wall. Gripping me by shirt.

‘ _What’s up with him? Why is everyone acting weird?_ ’

A spark of electricity jolted down my body. Natsu’s lips had collided with mine. I was in shock but I pushed him away.

“What the hell Natsu?!” I yelled as I did so. Natsu seemed out of sorts. His expression wasn’t the usual grinning idiot that I was used to. Instead it was blank with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

“G-Gray…” began Natsu, “why did you do that?”

“You don’t just randomly go around kissing people Natsu!”

“So last night was nothing was it?!” Natsu yelled back, a tear was falling down his face.

“… I don’t know what happened last night…”

“We kissed Gray! We **kissed**!”

“I know! But I’m not… I can’t be…”

“What?! Gay?” yelled Natsu.

“Look Natsu. I’m sorry if you thought it meant anything. It was a one-time thing. It will never happen again.”

Natsu was really beginning to tear up now. Snot was flowing out of his nose.

“But… but… I love you Grey…” Natsu whispered under his breath.

“Sorry Natsu… but I don’t feel the same way.” I could tell my words really hurt Natsu. His expression was no longer that of anger.

It was blank.

Natsu just walked up to me and…

*SLAP*

Natsu had left my left cheek red and was now running out of the ally back to the inn. That hurt… but why? It’s not like I wasn’t being honest, I didn’t love Natsu. But nonetheless I felt really guilty.

 

 


	6. Dream

After Natsu left and left me shocked and red in the face. I trod back to the inn, hoping that I wouldn’t see him for a while. My mind seemed unable to think of anything else other than Natsu and his expression as he left that ally; drenched in tears although his face was expressionless. On my way back I felt like I was being watched, although it wasn’t like it had been recently, I could tell where the eyes were. Behind me. I span on the spot to see who it was that was staring at me. It was a pair, faces shrouded in black cloaks. I took one step towards them but they vanished into thin air. And the sensation of being watched was gone. I returned to walking back to the inn.

 

By the time I had arrived back it was already sunset. The red light of the low-lying sun reflecting of the windows on the inn and the surrounding buildings. I opened the door to find that everyone, except Natsu, was staring at me. Although they’re friends, their gazes felt like daggers all except Lucy who had a subtle grin on her face. Had Natsu told them? However after what seemed like a few hours, Erza grabbed my ear and dragged me into the office we were in earlier with the old man.

*SLAP*

Erza left my face really red and I could have sworn that she broke my jaw for a second.

“How could you?” she said in almost a whisper.

“What do you-“

“Natsu. How could you do that to Natsu?” she interrupted. Both of us avoiding eye contact with each other.

“What do you mean?” I replied

“He came back in tears, Gray! He didn’t say anything for a while but when he finally did all he could say was ‘Gray’. Each time he started to cry… and we both know for Natsu to cry about anything means something terrible must have happened.” She said. Our eyes met for a second and in hers I could see both rage and confusion.

“I don’t kn-“

“Don’t lie to me Gray!” she said. The calm in her voice was more punishing to me than if she had yelled. A silence ensued that seemed to stop time itself. It was almost maddening. It seemed to scrape at my ears, making me aware of every second that went by. Finally Erza spoke again, “I know Natsu like’s you Gray, He’s been looking at you behind your back and I’ve noticed he likes being close to you… Has it got something to do with that?””

She had hit the nail on the head. I was reluctant but eventually I nodded

“What happened? I can’t imagine Natsu getting in a state like that if you simply rejected him… he’s made of stronger stuff than that.”

I felt a tear run down my face.  I felt cornered, how was I going to get out of this?

“… we kissed,” I said, the words slipping out as if of their own accord. I was surprised by Erza’s reaction, it wasn’t one of surprise all she said was, “oh”

“But I’m not… gay, so I can’t be with Natsu. I was wrong to give him the wrong impression, I know.”

“So then why did you kiss him? Surly not for the fun of it?”

I shook my head.

“I don’t know why…” I admitted again unable to make eye contact with Erza. She stood up, placing a hand on my shoulder and as she passed me whispered

“Well you’d better apologize to him. You may not have been doing it on purpose but you did play Natsu. It won’t fix everything but as long as he knows how sorry you are, I doubt he can stay mad at you for ever.”

Those words felt like a dagger. They hurt. However I knew that they were true. That was the plain and simple truth. I nodded. Erza left the room, leaving me by myself.

 

I waited a while before leaving to room. Hopefully the other would have dispersed and I wouldn’t need to be stabbed by their sharp eyes. I opened the door so that no more than a slither of light could get through. Peering through, I noticed that indeed everyone had left so I left the room as quietly as possible. However I did not go down to the others instead I left the inn. The cool night air seemed to wash away all my troubles. I began to walk down hill. The streets were lit in the silver light of the moon. In the distance I could see the top of the hills against the clear night sky, which was covered in millions of stars. As I reached the bottom of the hill I was met by a crowd of people; I had just entered the main shopping district. I followed the flow of people, which lead me into an area that was bright with oil lamps. Everywhere I looked was a food establishment of some form or another, so I decided to get some food. So I went to the cheapest looking café and sat at one of the out-door tables.

 

The food arrived after a while, by that time the streets had already began to quieten down. On front of me was a bowl of lentil soup. Placed next to it was a plate of slices of bread. Just as I began to rip the bread, someone sat on the chair opposite me. I couldn’t see their face except their eyes nor the rest of them for their body was covered in a black cloak and mask. They just sat there, looking at me. I however tried to ignore this person and dunked my bread into the soup and bit into it. It was delicious so I quickly went for a second when I realised that the plate of bread had been moved. It was now on front of the stranger. He was now tucking in himself, eating only the bread.

“What’s the big idea?” I questioned, making sure to get across my dissatisfaction at someone eating _my_ food.

“Shut it!”, he commanded as the finished off the bread. He stood up and walked around the table to me. He stood so close that I could feel his warm breath through the cool night air. The last thing I can saw was a bright flash of black light as I was covered in darkness once again.

 

This time I wasn’t shrouded in darkness for long, instead I was in a field full of flowers and in the distance was a single tree under which a child stood. Clothed in a blue yukata. I stood up un-able to control my limbs, and began walking towards the child whose face was covered in a paper mask with the symbol ‘魂’ written on it with red ink. The child’s face had a grin so wide it might have halved it but it wasn’t malevolent at all. The closer I got however the more the child seemed to retreat behind the tree as if shy. The moment I stepped into the tree’s shadow it whipped at me with its long branches. I stumbled back and fell. That kinda hurt, but not like it should have; it hurt my chest. I sat up, hand rubbing my chest. I glanced back up at the tree and kid. I just noticed but the tree had a knot in it and on the knot was a face. It was glaring at me as if I were something unholy or unclean. But the look on the kid’s face was one of worry. It soon began running towards me, but the tree seemed determined to stop him. Lashing its branches out in such a way that would block his path but not harm the kid itself. But the kid was too fast, he avoided the branches and ran his was over to me. He held his hands up to me. Which I took hold of, crouching down to his height.

“What do you look like under that?” I asked with a big smile on my face. Without speaking however the child raised his mask but I was blinded by the light coming from the child’s eyes. I went to cover my own eyes but before I could the child took hold of my wrists and lowered them. I was forced to look into his eyes.

 

Suddenly I was in blackness again. I was awake, but I was blindfolded. I could smell damp and my wrists hurt. I was in shackles and judging by the cold feel of the floor, had been thrown in a cell. _Was it the man dressed in black?_


	7. Break Free

The days seemed to drag on. I was still in those chain. My days were filled with black. The only thing that seemed to stir were the guards. They would talk outside the room, their voices muffled through the door. Whoever they were they knew what they were doing, they would have to restrict my hands more in case I used my ice magic to escape. Then they would pour water into my mouth using what I assumed was a ladle of some kind. Which doing this they would light a fire. The light from which just barely passed through the cloth of the blind-fold. The only thing that stopped me from going insane was the song of birds and the scuttle of rats that I would hear every now and then.  Eventually during the middle of the night; when the temperature dropped, I began thinking about Natsu and the others.

_Had they even noticed that I was missing? Even if they had, would they even care? Did Natsu hate me enough to leave me behind?_

Those thoughts swirled in my head over and over.

_I thought we were family… So… Is that how it is? One mistake and they would just up and desert me?_

“Weakling.” I heard a voice say.

“W-who was that?” I spoke weakly, throat parched from lack of water. But I had already guessed what it was. The guards’ voices were different, they were deep and anxious. This one was higher by comparison and it was calm.

“Fool. Have you forgotten me already?” said that voice with an edge of sarcasm, “No matter”

 

Out of the darkness I saw someone approach. But how was I seeing anything? Was I asleep? Unconscious. The figure continued walking closer and closer. Soon I was able to see more clearly. It was a guy. We were level in eye-height. He looked just like me. He was grey except for his red eye that just stared into mine. His body was covered in a grey cloak. He grinned a cruel grin.  

“How are you Gray?”  I tried to avoid eye contact but my gaze was stuck. My mouth wouldn’t move.

“I see you’re in a bit of a predicament.” It chuckled.

_What is this thing? How does it know that… and why the FUCK does it look like me?!_

“Why the look of surprise?”

“Why do you look like me?!” I finally heard myself yell, even though I didn’t feel my mouth moving. I grinned once more.

“I don’t just look like you Gray. I am you. I am your very soul. And I’m here to help you.”

“How?!”

“Simple Gray. Haven’t you heard the expression ‘the soul is power’?”

“No..?”

“Well basically, I can give you power. Enough to escape, and certainly enough to make those bastards pay. You just need to embrace me. Let me into your heart. Let your heart rule your head.”

I was couldn’t believe what I was hearing. But what other choice did I have?

“Fine.” I replied. As soon as that was said, there was a bright flash of red coming from my soul’s eyes.

 

I awoke. I could feel the power surge through my veins and it wasn’t long before I heard the chains that bound me bend and break. I was filled with anger. It seemed it was that, that gave me power. I was free. As my feet fell to the floor, Ice erupted from my feet and the whole room froze within second. I crashed through the door. And saw the guards cowering in the corner.

“Pathetic”

Then suddenly I blacked out.

When I came to there was blood everywhere. All over the room. I noticed that the guards were still in the corner. Their insides splattered on the wall behind them.  In my hand was an ice spear, blood dripping from the tip; and I knew it wasn’t mine. There wasn’t a scratch on me. It was theirs. I had killed them. I was starting to shake now. What had I done? I started to run. Anywhere it didn’t matter. I just ran, ran as far as I could.

 

Eventually I found my way back to Kagenaka. I ran further. It wasn’t long before I was running through the crowd, but they didn’t stop me. I continued to run; knocking down a few people every now and again. I eventually found my way to the inn. I didn’t stop running until I entered the inn and slammed the door shut behind me. Panting, I leaned against the door and slid to the floor. I was exhausted; finding it difficult to keep my eyes open. It wasn’t long before my vision started to blur, but not before someone found me.

 

I awoke in a bed. At first my vision was blurred but as I concentrated on the faces that surrounded me, I noticed that it was Erza and Natsu which sat at my bed-side.

 _Natsu? What was he doing here? I thought he hated my guts?_  

I tried to speak but all that left my mouth was a variety of grunts and wheezes.

“W-where were you Grey?!” asked Natsu, trying to wipe away his tears before I noticed- he didn’t do a very good job. I raised myself so that I could talk to the two of them properly. “Well?” I took me a while before I was able to talk, my throat was so dry that it ached. Eventually I was able to talk. “Well?! Where did you go!?” Natsu yelled. The pain and fear in his voice was obvious.

“Natsu!” exclaimed Erza, turning her head in shock at Natsu’s outburst.

“I…didn’t go anywhere…”

“Yeah… Sure you didn’t! It’s not like you had a reason to.” , the heavy edge of sarcasm in his voice cut deep, but it was true; I did have a reason to.

“No! I swear I didn’t!” I objected.

“Then what was it then!?” Natsu practically screamed. His tears began to fall again.

“I’ll tell you later. Right now I need a drink.” I replied

 


End file.
